Descriptive Summary
David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke
UniversityAnderson, Charles Roberts, 1902-1999.Charles Roberts Anderson papers 1806-1993 and undatedMaterial in English15.9 Linear FeetApproximately 10,200 ItemsFor current information on the location of
these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.Author and professor of American literature at Duke University and Johns Hopkins University.The Charles Roberts Anderson Papers span the dates 1806-1993 and document his active career as professor of American literature at Duke University and Johns Hopkins University. Included are research materials on the intellectual life of Charleston, S.C., and on American literary figures such as Paul Hamilton Hayne, Emily Dickinson, Henry James, Sidney Lanier (to whom Anderson was related), Herman Melville, Henry David Thoreau, and others. Additional material includes correspondence and files on Anderson's publications; lectures and files related to teaching; travel diaries and keepsakes; and other papers related to his family history and academic career. Copies of correspondence and other documents by Anderson's research subjects, particularly Hayne, detail elements of life in the South in the nineteenth century. In addition, material in this collection chronicles the academic life of Anderson and provides insight into the state of literary scholarship and publishing in the mid-twentieth century. Early dates usually reflect the dates of the content of original material photocopied by Anderson in the course of his research. Acquired as part of the Jay B. Hubbell Center for American Literary Historiography.
Administrative Information
Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research.

Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection.

In addition, original audiovisual materials are closed to patron use. Technical Services staff need to produce use copies before contents can be accessed.

All or portions of this collection may be housed off-site in Duke University's Library Service Center. The library may require up to 48 hours to retrieve these materials for research use.

Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library to use this collection.

Copyright Notice

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the copyright section of the Regulations and Procedures of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

The Charles Roberts Anderson Papers were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library as
gifts in December 1984, January 1986, and May 2000.

Processing Information

Processed by Christian Ferney, April 2009

Encoded by Christian Ferney, April 2009

Accessions from 1985, 1986, and 2000-0261 were merged into one collection, described in this finding aid.

Descriptive sources and standards used to create this inventory:

DACS, EAD, NCEAD guidelines, and local Style Guide.

This finding aid is NCEAD compliant.

Biographical Note
1902Charles Roberts Anderson born in Macon, Georgia1930Joined faculty of the English Department at Duke University1936Received doctorate from Columbia University; thesis was on Herman Melville's naval career1939Published Melville in the South Seas1941Appointed to faculty of Johns Hopkins University, in part to serve as general editor of the centennial edition of the collected works of Sydney Lanier, published in 19461949-1970sBecame sought-after as an international lecturer on American literature, traveling to Heidelberg University (1949), the University of Rome (1952-1953), Japan (1954), and the University of Torino (1960); during the 1960s and 1970s the U.S. Department of State engaged him for a lecture tour of Japan, Southeast Asia, the Balkans, and other countries1960Published Emily Dickinson's Poetry: Stairway of Surprise, which received the Christian Gauss Book Award from Phi Beta Kappa in 19621965Edited the two-volume anthology, American Literary Masters1968Publication of The Magic Circle of Walden1976Memorial to Henry James unveiled at Westminster Abbey1977Published Person, Place, and Thing in Henry James's Novels, for which he won a second Christian Gauss award1999Died in Charleston, S.C.
Collection Overview

The Charles Roberts Anderson Papers span the dates 1806-1993 and document the active literary career of Anderson, who was professor of American literature at Duke University and Johns Hopkins University and a reknowned international lecturer. Included are research materials on Paul Hamilton Hayne and other Southern literary figures. Also contains writings and research files on the subjects of Anderson's books and edited volumes, especially Emily Dickinson, Henry James, Sidney Lanier (to whom Anderson was related), Herman Melville, Henry David Thoreau, and other American literary figures, including Walt Whitman, William Faulkner, and Mark Twain. Additional material includes files on his research and publications on the intellectual life of Charleston, S.C.; correspondence and files on other publications; lectures and files related to teaching, including two audiotapes of Anderson's lectures on Dickinson; travel journals, keepsakes, and two films on Charleston, S.C. and Stratford, England; and other papers related to the Anderson family history and his academic career. Copies of correspondence and other documents by Anderson's research subjects, particularly Hayne, detail social conditions and life in the South in the nineteenth century. In addition, material in this collection chronicles the academic life of Anderson and provides insights into the state of American literary scholarship and publishing in the mid-twentieth century. Early dates usually reflect original material photocopied by Anderson in the course of his research. Acquired as part of the Jay B. Hubbell Center for American Literary Historiography.

[Original audiovisual materials are closed to use. Viewing or listening copies must be made before contents can be accessed.]

Arranged into the following series: Henry James Memorial Series; Personal Files; Teaching; Travel; Writings and Research; and Oversize Material.

Subject Headings

These are searchable subject entries for this collection. Performing a search on these subjects in the Duke University Libraries online catalog will bring up other related research materials.

Files relate to efforts spearheaded by Anderson to have a memorial to Henry James placed in the Poets' Corner of Westminster Abbey. Includes correspondence with officials and donors; financial and administrative material; and documentation of the installation ceremony. Correspondents include prominent American and British academics and creative writers such as Sir Frank Kermode, Iris Murdoch, Sir Charles P. Snow, Anthony Powell, Stephen Spender, Sir Victor Pritchett, Ralph Richardson, Leon Edel, C. Vann Woodward, Robert Penn Warren, Richard Ellman, and Roger Asselineau.

Personal papers of Anderson and his family. Includes personal correspondence--some of which also contains elements germane to Anderson's research, photographs, and family historical and geneological material. A file of Christmas cards featuring new poetry by Robert Frost sent to Anderson by Holt, Rinehart and Winston is included. Additional files created by his wife Mary Pringle Anderson and some related to the disposition of Charles Anderson's mother's estate in Georgia also appear in this series. Several sheets of slides complete the series.

1-2Personal filesTeaching Series, 1948-1980(2.5 boxes)

Material related to Anderson's teaching and students. The bulk of the material consists of files on individual students Anderson mentored. Additional files include course lectures, student papers, and course syllabi. One file containing minutes and recommendations from a planning conferences of the Modern Language Association and three files of professional correspondence are also included in this series.

2-4Teaching filesTravel Series, 1949-1973 and undated(2 boxes)

Files on Anderson's international travels, most of which were connected to his professional life. The bulk of the series contains travel diaries and writings detailing more personal aspects of Anderson's travels with his wife Mary as well as some keepsake printed material and ephemera. Includes some correspondence with universities and granting institutions regarding securing funding for travel, details of various international appointments and lectureships, and some copies of lectures given abroad. Areas visited by Anderson include: Austria, England, Germany, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Nepal, the Philippines, Romania, Russia, Scandinavia, Singapore, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, and Yugoslavia.

5-6Travel filesWritings and Research Series, 1806-1988 and undated(12 boxes)

Comprises the bulk of the collection and provides a record of Anderson's intellectual life, covering the scope of Anderson's writing and editing work, including research files; drafts and proofs; lectures; and correspondence with publishers. Organized into the following subseries: American Literary Masters, Charleston, Emily Dickinson, Paul Hamilton Hayne, Henry James, Sidney Lanier, Herman Melville, Henry David Thoreau, Other Writings, and Research Files. Much of the series consists of files either related to research or publishing. Research files are chiefly copies or reprints of scholarly articles but also include a number of copies of correspondence by research subjects. Copies of letters from Emily Dickinson, and numerous letters by or to Paul Hamilton Hayne, to which the earliest dates in this series refer, can be found in the subseries for each author. Copies of letters by Thomas Gayarre, Flannery O'Connor, and between Sarah Helen Whitman and James Wood Davidson are in the Research Files Subseries.

American Literary Masters anthology Anderson executive edited. Includes contracts, royalty statements, and other correspondence. Also includes drafts of essays by Anderson on Henry Adams, William Faulkner, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Robert Frost, written for inclusion in the anthology.7American Literary Masters filesCharleston, 1941-1948 and undated

Lectures on the intellectual life of Charleston as well as research files from the same period. Also includes undated drafts of

Before It Became Historic Charleston, a memoir by Anderson eventually published as Charleston: A Golden Memory in 1993.7-8Charleston filesEmily Dickinson, 1955-1986 and undated

Primarily files related to the publication of Anderson's

Emily Dickinson's Poetry: Stairway of Surprise, including rejection letters; correspondence with publisher Holt, Rinehart and Winston; and letters of criticism and encouragement from colleagues, particularly Thomas H. Johnson; and clippings of favorable reviews from newspapers. Additional files include a few photocopies of Dickinson mansuscripts and correspondence; transcripts and notes of Anderson's lectures on Dickinson; a file of suggested readings on Dickinson probably associated with American Literary Masters; and correspondence with Duke University regarding the donation of these papers.

[Some items moved to Oversize Material.]

8Dickinson materialsPaul Hamilton Hayne, 1806-1938

Numerous photocopies of letters written to or by Paul Hamilton Hayne as well as correspondence related to Hayne between Anderson and colleagues or archives. Hayne's correspondents include Charles Gayarre and Henry Timrod. Unlike the other major research files in this series, there is no published work by Anderson in this group.

[Some items moved to Oversize Material.]

8-9Hayne filesHenry James, undated

Drafts and lectures on the works of Henry James; most are likely related to Anderson's

Research files include reproductions of Lanier letters, publisher correspondence, clippings, and lectures. Most are dated around the publication of the

Centennial Edition of the Works of Sidney Lanier (1945) and Sidney Lanier: Poems and Letters (1969), both edited by Anderson.9Lanier research filesHerman Melville, 1945-1973, undated

Correspondence with co-editors and correspondence related to Anderson's edited and annotated manuscript of

Typee, which was to have been part of the aborted Greylock Edition of Melville series, as well as galley proofs of the manuscript. Additional material related to Anderson's Melville in the South Seas and other articles and lectures on Melville are also included. One article may be part of the American Literary Masters anthology.

[Some items moved to Oversize Material.]

9-10Melville filesHenry David Thoreau, 1965-1971, undated

Publisher correspondence, partial drafts, and articles on Henry David Thoreau. Most center on Anderson's

The Magic Circle of Walden and Thoreau's World: Miniatures from his Journal, which he edited. Files of clippings of reviews of The Magic Circle of Walden, research files including a map of locations referenced in Thoreau's journals, and an article likely related to American Literary Masters may be found at the end of the group.10-11Thoreau filesOther Writings, 1935-1984, undated

Copies of most of Anderson's additional publications as well as other drafts, lectures, and a short memoir entitled

A Georgia Boy in a Walled Garden. Most are scholarly journal articles on the same subjects as his major works. Additional topics include Southern literature, black writers in the South, and Victorian literature. 11-12Other writingsResearch Files, 1859-1988, undated

Primarily composed of serials, scholarly articles, and index card files on topics of professional significance to Anderson. Earliest dates refer to photocopied archival material. Includes copies of correspondence between Southern literary historian James Wood Davidson and Sarah Helen Whitman; writings and some letters by Louisiana historian and playwright Charles Gayarre; and several pieces of correspondence from Flannery O'Connor sent to Anderson by a student (box 12). Some research material was either collected by Anderson while abroad in Japan or sent by colleagues there. Thus, a few items are in Japanese. Boxes 15-19 contain Anderson's index card files used to organize his research. Includes research notes on the intellectual life of Charleston, Paul Hamilton Hayne, and a large file on various major American authors. Two boxes of cards of more varied material including post cards and miscellaneous notes are also included.

Contains items from other series requiring separate housing. Early dates refer to photocopied archival material. Chiefly consists of books of research files on Paul Hamilton Hayne, which include additional copies of Hayne correspondence, as well as records of Anderson's correspondence with libraries and archive repositories as part of his Hayne bibliography project. Also included are film reels featuring the cities of Charleston, S.C. and Stratford, England in the 1930s, possibly amateur movies taken by Anderson; a reel of microfilm belonging to Mary Anderson; audiotapes of lectures on Dickinson by Charles Anderson; and a book of clippings of reviews of his book on Dickinson. Finally, photostats of Lanier research and illustrations related to Anderson's Melville work round out this group of oversize materials.

[Original audiovisual materials are closed to use. Viewing or listening copies must be made before contents can be accessed.]